The German Anschreiben, laid out right

The Anschreiben carries the argument. The Lebenslauf lists what happened; the Anschreiben says why it adds up to this job. It is a formal business letter, it is one page, and its layout follows DIN 5008 closely enough that a reader notices when it does not.

The parts, from the top

1. Your name and full address, top of the page.
2. The employer’s address block: company, then the named contact, then street and town. Four to six lines.
3. Place and date, right-aligned. "München, 24.08.2026".
4. The Betreff — bold, no "Betreff:" label, naming the role and any reference number.
5. The salutation, ending in a comma, with the next line starting lower case.
6. Four paragraphs.
7. "Mit freundlichen Grüßen", your signature, your typed name.
8. Optionally "Anlagen" with a list of what is attached.

The four paragraphs

The opening says which job and how you found it, in one or two sentences, without the phrase "hiermit bewerbe ich mich" — it is not wrong, it is just the most-read sentence in German recruitment and it spends your first line on nothing. Start with the reason instead.

The second paragraph is why this employer. Something specific enough that it could not be pasted into another application: a product, a site, a way of working, a change they have announced. The third is your relevant experience, two or three concrete examples tied to what the advert asked for — not a re-reading of the Lebenslauf. The fourth is the close: availability, notice period, salary expectation if the advert asked for one, and a plain sentence saying you would like to meet.

Phrases worth avoiding

• "Hiermit bewerbe ich mich auf die von Ihnen ausgeschriebene Stelle" — the reader knows.
• "Ich bin teamfähig, belastbar und flexibel" — three claims with no evidence, on every second letter.
• "Über eine Einladung zum Vorstellungsgespräch würde ich mich sehr freuen" in the subjunctive. Write it in the indicative: "freue ich mich".
• "Sollte ich Ihr Interesse geweckt haben" — it opens a door for the reader to say no.

What goes with it

A German application is a set, not a document: Anschreiben, Lebenslauf, then Zeugnisse — school or university certificates and, importantly, the Arbeitszeugnisse from previous employers. Send it as one PDF, in that order, named with your surname and the role. Two attachments called "Dokument1.pdf" and "Scan.pdf" is the most common avoidable irritation in the whole process.